TEXTURES-2-GOPreview textures are free for non-commercial
use. Copyright to the textures remains with the author. If you'd like to use
these textures commercialy then please email.
See our FAQ and License page for usage restrictions. If you download please
visit our sponsor's links to help fund us.

We're often asked, 'what is the best 2D
file format to supply with 3D models for modern game engines?'

While there's no simple and short answer
to this, as many 3D systems use their own proprietary formats, we find that
.bmp format offers the best all-round compromise solution when transferring
3D data. BMP format files can be read by almost everyone with any sort of
desktop computer. They contain no compression, so there's no risk of a 'lossy'
image. File sizes are a known constant, for 24bit images in a given resolution.
Only real downsides is that there's no scope for an alpha channel in a .bmp,
so any alpha's need to be a separate image. Sticking to a 8.3 name convention
for the alpha can be tricky (for use with .3ds format files) but it is possible
with careful filename selection.

As mentioned above, since many 3D systems
use their own image formats (Gamebryo, HLSource etc.) some conversion is
bound to need to take place anyway. With this in mind .bmp format offers
the best go-between image format for use with 3D models.

All the high resolution commercially licensed
versions of our textures are supplied in .bmp format, usually in 'powers-of-two'
formats (256x256, 512x512 etc.) The free, lower resolution versions you
can grab from the preview pages come in .jpg format - another reason to
purchase the licensed version.